The Chronicles of Solar Pons

Solar Pons #7

by August Derleth, David Marcum (Editor), Allan J. Hubin (Foreword)

When August Derleth died on July 4, 1971, he had written and finished revising all the stories for The Chronicles of Solar Pons. The manuscript lay on his desk, ready for final typing.This, then, is the... last major collection of the Pontine series. However much the reader may regret bidding goodbye to a cherished friend of more than forty years’ constance, the ten tales presented here make for a fine and fitting exit.The range and variety of the puzzle-problems are wide. There is the classic flight-and-pursuit motif of the espionage thriller, The Adventure of the Orient Express. The strangeness of The Adventure of the Benin Bronze and the grim search in The Adventure of the Missing Tenants are matched by the long and tangled web behind The Adventure of the Red Leech.Whether enjoyed as pure entertainment, or for the exercise of nimble minds in an attempt to outwit Solar Pons, the reader will find in these pages an additional the easy flow of a prose style that is the hallmark of a superior craftsman.– From the original 1973 Mycroft & Moran edition dust jacket

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Short Stories, Crime

293 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

August William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and for his own contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and the Cosmic Horror genre, as well as his founding of the publisher Arkham House (which did much to bring supernatural fiction into print in hardcover in the US that had only been readily available in the UK), Derleth was a leading American regional writer of his day, as well as prolific in several other genres, including historical fiction, poetry, detective fiction, science fiction, and biography

A 1938 Guggenheim Fellow, Derleth considered his most serious work to be the ambitious Sac Prairie Saga, a series of fiction, historical fiction, poetry, and non-fiction naturalist works designed to memorialize life in the Wisconsin he knew. Derleth can also be considered a pioneering naturalist and conservationist in his writing

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augus...]

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solar Pons is an unabashed homage to/pastiche of Sherlock Holmes, and this is a nice collection of ten stories of his mysterious cases. I still prefer Derleth's "weird" fiction, but this was a fun diversion. Once Pons explains his deductive trail, it's all as "plain as a pikestaff" to Dr. Parker... My favorite was a nice Christmas story, The Adventure of the Unique Dickensians.

[Brandon Bosworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, Pons is an unabashed pastiche of Sherlock Holmes. But he is also a great pastiche of Sherlock Holmes. The stories are a great deal of fun and I actually think August Derleth is a better writer than Arthur Conan Doyle.

[Nemo Erehwon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking for some light, entertaining Sherlock Holmes-style stories? You might enjoy this pastiche, written by Derleth prior to the copyright on Sherlock expiring.

Solar Pons, a more avuncular shade of Sherlock, holds court at No. 7B Praed Street. His dull companion Dr. Parker chronicles Pons' cases.

The book contains ten short stories which should entertain. A couple are riff's on Sherlock's adventures. They are not the most intricate of mysteries. If you think about them, the solutions are reachable. But the tales are diverting.

I suspect Derleth wrote "The Adventure of the Orient Express" with his tongue firmly in his cheek after watching one too many espionage-on-a-train movies.

"The Adventure of the Unique Dickensians" is an enjoyable Christmas-time story with an amusing twist at the end.

"The Adventures of the Seven Sisters", with it's sly tip of the hat to Sax Rohmer, actually has some philosophical meat. It poses the question "what types of justice are there, and do some forms of justice better benefit society than others?" It's all the more impressive since the story was written prior to 1973. I refuse to provide a spoiler, so you'll have to read the story to see what I'm talking about.

[Read1000books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Greetings to my Sherlockian friends and mystery lovers in general! If you (like myself) have read all 60 of the original stories by Sir ACD, along with the best pastiches, you might like these ten short stories. Set in the 1920's and 30's, you will hardly notice that telegrams have been replaced by the telephone and hansom cabs by automobiles. And Pons, Dr. Parker, Mrs. Johnson, and Inspector Jamison are easy substitutes for Holmes, Watson, Mrs. Hudson, and Insp. Lestrade. In this volume I particularly enjoyed "The Adventure of the Orient Express" and "The Adventure of the Unique Dickensians". Give Pons a try!

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

We're drowning in Sherlock Holmes pastiches, not that I mind. More is better than none. For me, the best of the non-Arthur Conan Doyle Holmes works are "The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes" by Adrian Conan Doyle (son of Arthur) and John Dickson Carr, "The Seven-Percent Solution" - Nicholas Meyer, and the Solar Pons series by August Derleth.

[Thaddeus Tuffentsamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great collection of stories. While copying Sherlock Holmes piece by piece, Derleth also created Solar Pons as his own man. He was quite the story teller and spun adventures every bit as satisfying as Conan Doyle. Belanger books has done us all a great favor in acquiring the rights to republish these in a nice collection of books so that we can continue to enjoy them.

[Gus Scholtz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Derleth wanted to publish these 10 stories as Sherlock Holmes but I think some legal and copyright laws prevented him. So he took all the characters, changed their names and placed them in 1930.
Stories were written in the 1930 s. Enjoyed them . Easy to follow and the mysteries kept me involved.
This was the second book. Read that the rest are even better. Ordering two more now.

[Richard Mellon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pons and Parker Short Stories

Good collection of stories ... If you've read the other collections then you will want to read these as they are true to the style and enjoyable as all the others ... It's as clear as a pikestaff of course ...

[Lynn Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

great classic!

[Tony Ciak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Fun

[Alex Budris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solar Pons, my go-to 'cozy' mysteries. Though don't get too comfortable, there is plenty of grisly murder afoot in these tales...

[Brad Allen]

Actually #2.

[Mark Stratton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice, yet derivative set of stories based loosely on the Sherlock Holmes character. Derleth wasn't at all shy about aping ACD's Holmes characters or setting, and he does so to decent and entertaining effect. Solid, but not ground-breaking. Entertaining.

[Robina Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for Sherlock Holmes fans who can't get enough of the great detective - I'm not quite that, but I enjoyed these stories and would willingly read more.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good Holmes pastiche.